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Monday, February 15, 2010

Our Love Story: When We Met, Pt. 1

In May 2006 I headed to Darkhan, Mongolia to do missions work for 5 months. The missions org I was working with had a very, very small group of Americans: a married couple that headed up the organization, a guy in his 50s who got there the same time I did, and two guys who had been there for over a year before me - Nick and Adam. Of course when I left my mom was all, "You're gonna end up marrying one of those guys." And I was like, "Psh! THAT is never going to happen!" (I was interested in a guy back home and really chill with NOT starting something with any guy I'd meet overseas.)

I met Nick about 2 minutes after arriving in Darkhan and I was very nonchalant about him. The first thing he said to me was, "You look like your brother." After about a week of being around him briefly I thought he was VERY rude because he hardly gave me the time of day. He just totally ignored me and I thought, "Great. Five months and these are the only English speaking peers I'll have..."

That all changed over the course of time.... we ended up being put together on small projects and then chose to spend more and more time together. But from my perspective, I was just like a little sister bugging Nick to death all the time. He didn't seem to mind, though Smile I was always having computer issues and he was the only one who could help. When it started getting cold in the fall he would make coffee for me almost every morning as a bribe to get to see me each day before we went our separate ways for our work.

In the middle of October, we parted ways after a very long trip home together. I honestly figured I'd never hear from him again. My family picked me up at the airport in Dallas and we made the four hour trip home. When I got home I had an email from him. ;o I couldn't believe it! I was sort of wanting a "define the relationship" moment but he was just keeping lines of communication open.

I sulked. And moaned. And cried. I really thought he just saw me as a friend and would never pursue anything else. There were times I wanted to stop emailing him altogether because I didn't want just a chummy relationship with him. So I would "ignore" him sometimes but it would never last too long.

In May of '07 I was getting ready to help teach at a child evangelism seminar. Two of Nick's sisters were going to be there. I was really upset that he hadn't done anything in the months we'd been home to define our relationship. I was just having a really hard time with the whole thing... Meanwhile my sister was getting ready to leave to Africa for the summer. So we were both packing. The whole day my mom kept saying, "Becca, just try to be happy! Why don't you put some makeup on or put on some nice clothes." I was like, "Um, we're packing and I'm not going anywhere today. So why would I?!" She was just acting super retarded. lol. It was really weird and my sister and I kept rolling our eyes at her.

About 10 minutes after my dad got home from work my mom decided we'd have an impromptu family picture taken. We knew at that point she'd lost her mind because we weren't all even home and she wanted ME to go get the neighbor to take our picture. I'm like laughing just because she's being SO dumb. So I just blurted out, "I will only go outside if Nick Harris is out there." And my mom's all like, "OK!" She drags me out the door and I glance up and he's getting out of his truck!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FREAKED OUT BIG TIME!

I literally screamed loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear, then ran inside and fell on the floor. My dad said he thought I was going to pass out. My whole body just started shaking and I went pale. Once I gathered myself together, I managed to have a very awkward time visiting with him. About an hour later he explained that he'd been talking to my dad since January and he'd just been working on finishing school and working three jobs but definitely interested in a very long-term relationship the whole time. Shocked

We were engaged six weeks later. We did the long-distance relationship for 11 months. It sucked! But we have a box filled with love letters we sent each other during that time. So that's kind of special. We got married on May 10, 2008 - just less than two years from when we met. I can't imagine being happier!

2 comments:

I could read your story over and over and it would be just as special every time! I just LOVE all the drama (on your end anyway), sulking, moaning over something that was RIGHT there, but you had no idea yet! Hmmmmm....God has a GREAT sense of humor :)